Crushing rumors: The atmosphere in the Steelers locker room on Monday afternoon was exactly what it should be coming off a big win over the Kansas City Chiefs.
Guys were joking around, laughing, and some even grabbed 'courtside seats' to watch a competitive game of 'trash can' basketball.
There was no drama, no distractions, despite the best attempt of some who tried to stir things up via Twitter with a 'report' from 'sources' that Martavis Bryant has asked for a trade. And yes, it came from the same individual who said Ben Roethlisberger was going to ask for a trade back in 2013.
"No, I am good to go," said Bryant when directly asked if he requested a trade. "I clarified it last night on my Twitter. I am happy to be here. As far as me getting traded, I would like to get traded to the (Golden State) Warriors.
"Everything is good. I am going to keep on moving and just get better for this week."
His teammates chimed in too, ready to talk trade in a fun, good-natured way. Basketball trade that is.
"I thought he was talking about getting traded to the (Cleveland) Cavs," said Ramon Foster. "I thought he wanted to switch sports. I thought he was talking about basketball.
"We are not going to feed into it any more. It's over. We crushed that. That is done. He cleared it up. We are good."
The report of the trade request came while the team was flying back from Kansas City, and just like everyone else, they got alerts about it too.
"We all died laughing," said Pouncey, who joked he was being traded to the Dolphin for his twin brother Mike Pouncey. "We thought it was funny."
Foster feeling good: Foster, who missed the Chiefs game with a back injury, said he is hoping to be back on the field on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals at Heinz Field.
"I feel confident about it," said Foster. "If it's up to me, I'm rolling. If everything goes correctly, I am in there."
Foster said it was wise to rest this past week, giving him a chance to fully rebound rather than suffer any kind of setback.
"We are about to hit a stretch in the season where conference play comes along," said Foster. "We have Cincinnati, a late Sunday afternoon game. It was better to get rest in a non-divisional game than risk being out later."
With Foster out, B.J. Finney stepped in at guard and Foster liked what he saw from him.
"Finney looked good," said Foster. "Finney had a lot going on that game. He had 90 people at the game. That was a homecoming game for him. Finney is a guy that enjoyed that. You could tell he had a lot of anxiety, he had a whole section of people there. He held his own. He did good. He played against them last time and did well too."
